Remain Nameless
by Mrs.Monster
Summary: or Enough Adventure to Last Molly Hooper a Lifetime. Molly meets the Doctor in a shop. Set in S6 of Doctor Who/ post S2 of Sherlock. Written for lifelesslyndsey's birthday.


(Disclaimer: I own nothing related to either Sherlock or Doctor Who. No copyright infringement intended.

Author's note: The o/s I wrote for mah bestie back in September for her birthday.)

Remain Nameless

or

Enough Adventure to Last Molly Hooper a Lifetime

Molly hated going to the shops. Especially big department-type deals with women spraying you with noxious-smelling perfumes, trying to sell you make-overs or a certain type of pants that would make you look just _that much slimmer_. It was an attack on the self-esteem is what it was, going into one of those places, but at times it just couldn't be avoided.

She wasn't even shopping for herself; a doctor at the hospital was having a baby and had invited Molly to the shower. Molly was sure just to avoid any awkward conversations later on when nearly all the other lady doctors had been invited other than the odd girl who worked in the morgue basement. So Molly was shopping for a baby gift, and really had no idea what to buy. If she were honest, the very thought of a baby made her stomach do funny things. As her mother mentioned at least once a week, Molly's biological clock was ticking, and if she weren't careful it would soon count down to zero with nothing to show.

Never mind an extremely successful professional carrier, or several papers she'd written that had been in a few celebrated pathology publications. In Elizabeth Hooper's eyes, none of those were things that mattered. What mattered was marrying relativity well, producing grandchildren and spending the rest of her life in quiet, if not happy, domesticity. The very thought made Molly's skin crawl. _If only she knew... _

Passed display cases of beveled glass meant to make cheap jewelry look like the Queen's jewels, the glimmering cosmetics counters, racks of over priced clothing and out of the women's department and to the section called Toy Tower. Molly was on the hunt for baby toys, and what better place? She couldn't think of one.

Almost nervously she clutched her bag as if some delinquent eight-year old was going to snatch it from her hands. Everywhere Molly looked there were whirring, blinking, dancing electronic lights in all colors; bangs, pops, whizzes, whooshes and zings of different toys all set off at once. The altogether effect was a little overwhelming and Molly was blinking rapidly, seeing spots as she searched for the infants section.

Molly's search drummed up nothing but toy cars, action figures, little dollies, plastic tea sets and actual drums. None of which would do for a tiny baby. Practically tip-toeing along, peeking down aisles, Molly wasn't paying attention to where she was walking, and collided with a rather large remote controlled car. Or it collided with _her_, she wasn't sure yet. What she _was _sure of was that it was heavy and it had rammed into her ankle, which was now throbbing with pain.

"Ow!" Remembering where she was, Molly bit back the stream of curses she wanted to unleash in the heat of the moment, and looked around for the nuisance piloting the thing.

She'd been expecting an unattended child, but instead found a grown man in red braces and a bow-tie. He had an employee tag pinned to his striped dress shirt and was concentrating hard on maneuvering the toy car around the obstacle of her legs and down the aisle.

"Excuse me!" Molly lost her bluster when she finally had his attention. "You-you, um... you ran into me with that car."

He was tall and narrow with sweeps of long dark brown hair, and he smiled widely and brightly at her. "Did I? So very sorry. I'm new here you know, just started today," he said and pointed to his name tag which read simply _Doctor_. "they gave me a name-tag and everything, in case I forget who I am, which is a good thing because I sometimes do. Job's are brilliant, aren't they? Never had one before, officially at any rate. I'm the Doctor." He reached out and grabbed her hand, and shook it enthusiastically. "Who are you?"

Wide-eyed and startled by the man, _the Doctor, _Molly said, "M-Molly Hooper. Doctor Molly Hooper, actually." She felt the need to throw the last in, since he was slinging titles around.

"Wonderful to meet you then, Doctor Hooper. I'm the Doctor, not sure if I mentioned that." Molly flexed her hand when he released it, her skin red from his vigorous hand-shaking. "Must be off! Important work to do, you know."

The Doctor stooped and picked the toy car up, moved around Molly and continued on his merry way.

* * *

The hunt for infant toys was fruitless. There were too many different kinds, sizes, price ranges, developmental stages; it made Molly's head spin. Finding what was appropriate had never been Molly's forte and she didn't want to show up with something completely wrong.

Back through Women's and to Kid's Clothes Molly tried to remember if Doctor Patel was having a boy, or a girl. It was on the invitation, but she'd left it sitting on the table at her flat and couldn't for the life of her remember the sex of the surgeons progeny.

Glancing down at her watch, Molly noticed that the shop would be closing in a half-hour. Thanks to a hectic work schedule as of late -coming in early, covering other forensic pathologist's shifts attempting to cover her own ass after the _incident _nearly half a year ago- she hadn't been able to shop for this stupid gift until the last minute.

After a call to her mother, who informed her that either pastel yellow or green were safe neutral colors (as any good girl would know), Molly was clawing through racks of tiny baby clothing, trying to find something before the store closed.

Molly had a pale yellow outfit- ridiculously tiny trousers, a thing called a _onesie_ and a little jacket with happy ducklings on it- clutched in her hands like a prize, headed for one of the many check-outs dotted through the shop.

It was mainly deserted, no one that Molly could see, but she could hear distant, faint voices. Then she heard something _else. _Amechanical beeping, the sound of a tiny motor whirring, and it was growing closer as she kept walking. She looked behind her, expecting to see the madman employee playing with another type of toy, but there was no one. The sound wasn't even coming from _behind_ her, more from the _side. _

Lights in the store had begun to go off, and Molly rushed toward a lit aisle intersection just as the whirring and beeping reached its peak. All she caught was a silver blur from the corner of her eye before she was knocked off her feet by something that should have been entirely too small to do the job and flailed into a rack of formal gowns, hit her head on the metal base of the rack and promptly lost conciseness.

Typical.

* * *

When she came-to the store was mostly dark, only a few security lights illuminating the place. Molly clawed her way out of a mountain of crinoline, silk and cheap beadwork and looked around. There was no sign of the silver blur, and the mechanical sounds had stopped.

"You're here after hours!" A familiar voice said, and Molly turned to see the man in the bow-tie and braces, the _Doctor_, coming toward her quickly. He'd lost the name tag and was wearing a tweed jacket, and he looked remarkably like a younger version of her sixth-form maths teacher, and he was carrying a large net. Molly rubbed her head where a large bump was swelling, and then noticed that there was someone trailing the Doctor with a baby strapped to his front. "You're here after hours! Why are you here after hours? Have you seen a silver rat?"

He was inappropriately close to her, looking down at Molly with a furrowed brow and she realized that he was waiting for her to answer him.

"I, um, I saw a silver _blur_. Can't say if it was a rat or not. Made me trip into that rack there, and I... hit my head... hello there," Molly said to the man behind the Doctor, who was looking increasingly worried, and the baby on his front that was looking increasingly bored. "What is he pointing at me?"

"Sonic screwdriver."

"Oh, of course."

The end of the long, silver _sonic screwdriver _lit up green as the Doctor ran it up and down in her direction. It was making a mechanical whirring sound, completely different than the sound that the silver blur had made. "And what is a sonic screwdriver?"

"This is," the Doctor said absently, flicking his wrist and making the screwdriver extend. "You're fine. No concussion, but you may want to have your potassium levels checked. Bananas, eat more bananas. I liked bananas once."

Just then, the flash of silver blurred by again and the Doctor jumped with his net, and _caught _it. A little silver rat. Molly and the man with the baby stood and watched as the Doctor wrestled with the mechanical rat.

"Craig, by the way."

"Doctor Molly Hooper, nice to meet you."

"This is my son, Alfie. Or as he prefers, Stormageddon Dark Lord of All, I've been recently informed."

"Hello, Stormageddon."

The Doctor popped up, the silver rat clutched in his hand. Molly thought that it would have been kind of cute if it hadn't inadvertently knocked her unconscious, giving her this throbbing headache. And then Molly's rational mind went into panicked overdrive as the metal rat opened a _mouth _filled with dripping, yellow teeth, sharpened to needle-points. She wheeled back as the rat snarled and snapped at the Doctor.

"Metal rat, real mouth! Metal rat, real mouth!-"

"What in the _hell _is that?!"

"-metal rat, real mouth! Metal rat, real mouth!"

"Everyone stop shouting!"

Molly and Craig went silent as the Doctor used his screwdriver _thing _and made the metal rat go still, before slipping it into the pocket of his tweed jacket.

"That, Molly, was a Cyber Mat. And yes, Craig, those were real teeth."

"Does someone want to tell me what in the _hell _is going on? What in the _hell _is a Cyber Mat? What-"

"Long story short, power fluctuations, missing people, big metal robot men, it's all very important. And you should go now, far too dangerous." Gripping her by the shoulders, the Doctor lead her toward the main doors of the shop. "Far, far, far too dangerous." He pulled out his screwdriver, aimed it at the locked door and pushed her through it. "It was lovely to meet you!" The Doctor and Craig waved at her though the glass before turning and running off.

* * *

Leg and head throbbing, Molly let herself into her flat.

"You took your time."

Molly pulled her key from the look, and turned to Sherlock Holmes, who was slumped on her sofa, her laptop lying on his stomach.

"Yeah, uh..." she dropped her keys into the small bowl on the table in the foyer. "I, um..."

"What's happened?" Sherlock asked sharply. "You haven't stuttered around me in ages." He closed her laptop, set it on the coffee table and sat up, scanning her intently.

"Something weird happened at the shop..."

"You're injured." Sherlock stood and went to her, sliding his hands under the heavy fall of her hair, feeling gently along the swollen bump there. Molly blushed under his touch, and placed her hand over his.

"Like I said, something weird happened at the shop."

* * *

"That's preposterous."

"I would have thought so too, if I hadn't seen it with-"

"No one can be called just _the Doctor._ Doctor Who?"

"Well, what about the metal rat with the creepy gremlin teeth?"

Sherlock waved his hand dismissively. "I've heard stranger."

Molly was sitting on the sofa, between Sherlock's legs, her back to his chest. Their legs were tangled along the length of it except her sore one; it was bent, pulled to her chest as Sherlock rubbed the throbbing muscles while Molly sipped tea. She reached over and set her tea on the low table and leaned her head back on Sherlock's shoulder.

"We have to go and investigate."

"You're dead, remember?"

He let out an impatient noise. "How could I forget?" Sherlock tapped his fingers on her bent knee. "Missing people, eh?"

Molly twisted to look at him. "Don't even think about it."

Sherlock gave her his best innocent look. Which Molly didn't fall for one bit.

"You're thinking about going out in disguise again to investigate that shop."

He narrowed his eyes at her, and damn near _pouted_.

"Don't pout at me." Molly leaned in an kissed him on the mouth. "I'm sure I can sufficiently... distract you." She kissed him again, and turned completely, straddling his lap. Sherlock grinned and hauled her against him, grabbing her bottom.

"I'm sure you can think of something, _Doctor _Hooper."

* * *

Molly knew that she shouldn't be here. She _really, really _shouldn't be here. She should be at Bart's where she was supposed to be starting her shift. Instead, she was standing in front of that blasted shop. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the Cybermat out of her head; now she could sympathize with Sherlock a little. She _had _to know what was going on.

As soon as one of the shop girls unlocked the door, Molly swept inside and began poking around. Cybermat, the Doctor, Craig, Stormageddon; she searched and searched until she caught sight of a tall man with brown swoopy hair ducking into the ladies dressing rooms.

"Doctor!" she said in an exaggerated whisper, and he whipped around an annoyed look crossing his face.

"You! What are you doing here?" he whispered back. "I said it was dangerous! Dangerous!" The Doctor squeezed his eyes shut, ran a hand down his weary face. "Why do they _never _listen?"

"Listen, shut up. Whatever you're doing? I'm coming with you."

"No you're not." The Doctor was throwing open the curtains to the dressing rooms, scanning with his sonic screwdriver.

Molly stomped after him. "Yes, I am."

"Fine, but no running off. And you have to do what I tell you."

"You gave in easy. Push-over."

"Only a minute on the job and you've already earned the title of least favorite companion."

"I am _not _your-" she stopped abruptly as the Doctor pushed on the mirror in the last dressing room on the right. It slid open, revealing a darkened tunnel.

"That is _cheating_." With a look in her direction, the Doctor ducked into the runnel, and Molly followed him, heart hammering in her chest as the mirror slid shut behind them.

"So what are we looking for?" Molly walked beside him, sliding her hands into her trouser pockets to hide the shaking.

"Cybermen."

"So, like a Cybermat, only a man and not a rat?"

"Yes, exactly."

"Well, come on then. Are we men, or are we mice?!" Molly laughed nervously.

"You're taking this surprisingly well for a first timer."

"I know a man who says that once you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable must be true. And, well, I've been mulling it over all night, and I know that what I saw, that Cybermat, was definitely not human. Are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Human?"

"No, I am not."

The Doctor was scanning their surroundings with his screwdriver, periodically checking the readings. He was quieter than he had been when they'd first met the day before, answering her questions in a short, perfunctory tone.

"You certainly look human."

"I've got two hearts."

Internally, Molly was having a panic attack. _How _she was maintaining a level of calm on the outside, she would never know. The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out the Cybermat and began stroking it absently.

"Wasn't that thing bad yesterday?"

"Well, I reprogramed it. You're good now, aren't you? Yes you are!" He brought the metal rat to his face and made kissy noises at it, and Molly could have sworn the thing actually _snuggled back_. With another stroke, the Doctor bent and set the Cybermat on the floor.

"So, two hearts, huh? Anything else you've got two of?"

He froze, hand still on the rat and straightened up, giving her a _look_.

"What? I'm just sayin'. You've got two hearts, if you had two of _every _organ then it's only logical that you would have two- Oh, will you stop trying to shush me! I'm no good at this _small talk _thing."

Molly nearly giggled at the shocked look on the Doctor's face until she heard the unmistakable sound of something large and mechanical approaching them.

* * *

She had to literally bite her tongue to hold back her screaming as the Cybermen came into view.

The Doctor turned to her. "Molly, you need to run. _Now_."

Feeling like an idiot for as far as she'd come with the Doctor, she did. Molly turned and ran. Down the tunnel, back through the mirror in the dressing room, heart pounding in her chest wondering _what she could do _until she ran into Craig by the lifts.

"Molly! Where's the Doctor?"

"I don't know! We went down some tunnel and the Cybermen were there, and he told me to run. Oh my god, I just _left _him."

"It's alright, I'm goin' in. I need you to take Alfie."

Molly panicked. "What, no no no, I _can't_-"

"You have to!" Craig was already unbuckling the papoose and handing the baby over. "You're a doctor, right? You're great with kids!" And then Molly had an arm full of baby, and Craig was off, ducking into the lift.

"I work with dead people!" Molly yelled at the closed metal doors. "Oh _shit_." She backed up from the lifts, and regarded the baby in her arms. "Alright there, Stormageddon?"

Alfie just gave her a level look, one that clearly said _peasant (in Sherlock's voice of all things)_, before beginning to wail heartily just as the lights cut out.

"_Shit_."

* * *

When Molly stumbled back to her flat later that day, she dragged Sherlock to the bedroom where they had one hundred percent human, wild, life-affirming sex. Her curiosity was slaked, and just _glimpsing _the Cybermen was enough adventure for Molly, thank_ you_. Later that afternoon, Molly dressed and slipped from the flat. She and Sherlock were both starving, and there was nothing in which meant that Molly had to at least go down to the corner market as much as she _hated _dragging herself out of bed and away from Sherlock.

As she turned the corner onto a side-street, Molly caught an unbelievable glimpse of the Doctor in a stetson unlocking the door to a blue police box.

"Doctor!" Molly broke into a run when he turned to look at her. "You really are not a hat person," she said when she caught up to him.

"And you would make a terrible companion," he said with a smile. "You actually ran when I told you to."

"Yes," she smiled back, "I would. And, yes I did."

The Doctor leaned back against the police box, crossing his arms over his chest.

"So... what's this?" Molly asked, inspecting the bright blue box.

"This is the TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space."

"Wait. This is a space ship?"

"Yeah, you want to come inside and look?"

"That's alright, I think I'll pass."

"Ah, just as well." A sad smile crossed his face. "No more companions, no more travel," he said quietly, and Molly was sure he was speaking to himself. Impulsively, Molly reached out and hugged him to her. It quickly turned awkward as the Doctor clumsily patted her on top of the head. Molly could hear his double heartbeat under her ear. She released him, and the Doctor snapped his fingers, the door to the TARDIS swung open.

He stepped inside. "Just remember that I'm the Doctor, and that I was here to help."

Molly laughed. "No, _I'm _a Doctor. You're a madman with a blue box."

The Doctor grinned. "Goodbye, Molly Hooper." He disappeared inside, the door falling closed.

Molly stepped back as the light on top of the blue box began pulsing and spinning, a loud grinding sound accompanying it. It blew the hair back from Molly's face as the TARDIS began to dematerialize, before it finally blinked out completely, leaving Molly standing in the middle of the deserted street.


End file.
